Re: Improving Off-road Compliance

Legitimate questions, Mojavegreen.

Identification of vehicles is only valuable if the LEO is present to witness it. Otherwise, all they can do is pay the owner a visit. Identification can also take on many forms, but the one most often discussed is a license plate similar to road motorcycles use. This is the least desirable for a number of reasons. One is the frequency of crashes, presenting a danger of an additional sharp object that is likely to cause severe injury in even a minor upset. The other issue is that the numbers aren't much more legible than a green or red sticker, especially on a bouncing vehicle in dust. LEOs have a difficult enough time identifying automobiles on the highway from more than 50 feet, and those numbers are about twice the size of a motorcycle plate. Better with numbers on existing number plates, which exist on nearly any dirt bike. Quads are a little different story. I understand the value of identification, but it still doesn't guarantee that it's the owner who is driving without a visual description. The overall value of this method is useful in a very limited range of circumstances, and the extent to which the information could be used in a prosecution is also.

As for the issue of modified (I presume you mean LOUD) exhausts without spark arresters: are you aware that it's already the law on all public lands in California that mufflers be fitted that keep noise below 96dB and have a working sparky? It's already against the law to fail to meet these regulations anywhere. That would include limited use trails such as those found in Juniper Flats.